PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Proposal RFA-FD-16-022 This project comprises the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) Plant and Plant Pest Management and Laboratory Divisions' effort to enhance feed safety through FDA's Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards (AFRPS) Cooperative Agreement. The AFRPS cooperative agreement is intended to develop and maintain best practices, enhance animal feed safety and better direct regulatory activities aimed at reducing foodborne illness attributed to animal feed safety hazards. Implementation by MDARD of the eleven standards will provide greater efficiency, acceptance by FDA of MDARD field inspections and laboratory data, and standardized processes reducing litigation, improving data quality and improved response time. In this cooperative agreement proposal, MDARD outlines goals and objectives on how it will maintain a comprehensive strategic plan to gain significant conformance to the AFRPS by the end of a 5 year grant period. In this proposal, MDARD also establishes its ability to meet all laboratory eligibility requirements and outlines how the laboratory will continue to meet the managerial and technical requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2005 in order to guarantee valid and defensible laboratory testing data to protect human and animal health. The implementation and continuous improvement of MDARD's feed program and laboratory plans and procedures through the AFRPS will assist both Michigan and the FDA to better direct regulatory activities toward increasing food safety in the United States and move closer to the goal of creating a national, fully integrated food safety system.